Miracle amid the mayhem
Emily Ortega, 21, was about to give birth as she clung to a post to survive after the evacuation center she fled to was devastated by the 20-foot storm surge in Tacloban. She reached safety at the airport, where she gave birth to a girl she named Bea Joy Sagales. Bea’s harrowing arrival drew applause from the military medics who assisted in the delivery.

Bullit Marquez • Associated Press,

A paper label identified the body of John Librando on a pew at St. Michael the Archangel Chapel in Tacloban, Philippines. The city has no functioning morgue in the wake of the typhoon. “He drowned,” his father said.

Wally Santana •Associated Press,

In Tacloban, a father's young son was swept from his arms

November 11, 2013 - 9:36 PM

TACLOBAN, Philippines – There is no functioning morgue here, so people have been collecting the dead from Typhoon Haiyan and storing them where they can — in this case, St. Michael the Archangel Chapel.

Ten bodies have been placed on wooden pews and across a pale floor slick with blood, debris and water. One has been wrapped in a white sheet, tied to a thick green bamboo pole so that people could carry it, and placed on the floor.

Librando had taken refuge in a nearby military compound by the time the typhoon’s storm surge poured in Friday morning.

For two hours, the water rose around him. He held his 2-year-old son in one arm, his 3-year-old son in the other.

But the torrent proved too strong, and swept the family out of the building. The water rose above Librando’s head and he struggled to swim. His younger son slipped from his hands and was immediately pulled under the water.

“I found his body later, behind the house,” he said.

“I brought him to this chapel because there was nowhere else to take him,” Librando says. “I wanted Jesus Christ to bless him.”